The Submerged Cathedral

A low three stars. I want to like this a lot, but I don't think I really do. Having sampled some of Wood's other (more recent) work, I think maybe I like her more as she gets older.

The plot of this book is fairly solid, although I'm not entirely sure I was convinced by the motivation behind Martin's mid-book decision that's fairly significant. And it's an interesting historical romance. Still, I think you have to be able to justify lines like "His certainty falls over her like rain", and I'm not sure this prose style can quite do that. (I'm also intrigued by the author's bald admission in the endnotes that she "transplanted" a real-life event a few years earlier to fit her timeline! Might have been best just to discreetly get away with show more that one...) show less

I found this book, which takes its name from a work by Debussy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg5hvGS7X7w), to be very similar to the musical namesake: very dramatic and emotional at times, with some beautiful reflective quiet passages which encourage the reader/listener to reflect on the value of aloneness. I have no personal experience of living in Europe, but I sense that the author is correct in the way she draws such fundamental contrasts between European urban and Australian rural existence. The writing seemed almost poetic to me in parts and I'm not surprised that the excellent Australian poet Mark Tredinnick is acknowledged. Charlotte Wood surprised me with her ability to draw out my connection with the Australian bush that I show more didn't know I had!
My only gripe is that a number of the plot twists seemed a little to convenient and without justification as likely turns of event - in particular one aspect of the ending. Nonetheless, as my second foray into Wood's work, I am definitely encouraged enough to keep going to another work ("The Children", kindly recommended by and mooched from, Jennywren ( http://www.librarything.com/profile/jeniwren ) show less

Jocelyn and Martin meet and fall in love, and are living together when Jocelyn’s elder sister unexpectedly turns up having left her husband in England. Ellen has a young daughter and is pregnant. Jocelyn agrees to Ellen’s demands to be cared for, and is forced increasingly further apart from Martin. When tradegy strikes Martin leaves in grief and joins a monastery. While Martin and Jocelyn are separated Jocelyn learns about gardens from Duncan, an employer that she unexpectedly marries.

Marriage is portrayed very negatively in the book and the sense of spiritual calling that Martin has is never fully examined. Overall, a beautifully written book and one I would recommend.

The Submerged Cathedral by Charlotte Wood is probably my favourite novel. It examines the themes of novelists such as Austen in terms of Love versus duty. Due to the Australian setting I was able to place the characters. The way the story unfolds is so delightful. I experienced so many emotions in reading it

Unbearably overblown prose.

Ethereal